A/N: Geez, you guys, I've never gotten this many reviews. The largest number of reviews I ever had was 2! Then it changed to 3 with you all and then it doubled into six! I'm so happy happy happy! starts writing on Sephiroth
Seph: Hey, what are you doing!
Evil Strigoi (me!): I'm writing my next chapter on you!
Seph: AHHH, I'm going to get ink poisoning!
ES: At least you'll die happy because you're going to get me more reviews (I hope)!
Seph: sigh Fine, do what you must.
ES: Yayness! Please read and review this one pleez! Oh, and I'll give you a hint on the pairings since you asked so nicely. Study Vinnie's thoughts closely and you'll figure out the first one. Oh, and there's gonna be a mushy scene in this chap. Loren kinda bears her inner emotions to a certain gun-slinger. The second pairing should be easy enough. Cloudy kinda likes a certain girl, but is still annoyed by her over protectiveness. Okays, now that that is settled, let's get on with the storieeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (Coffee. It does that to you.)
"Hey, Tifa! So you decided to join us again. I'm shocked!"
Barret laughed and clapped her on the back. Tifa nearly choked with the force of the blow, but she laughed with him. Loren observed her carefully and knew that it was just a façade to keep everyone's spirits up. Loren inwardly smiled. At least she's cooperating and trying to keep the team together. Loren paused and scanned the room for Vincent. He was over in the corner, his arms crossed, looking gloomy. Loren raised an eyebrow. Was he still brooding over what she had said? Just forget it and join the group already, you idiot! Loren screamed inside her head. She left him at that and looked to see where everyone else was. Red was cleaning his fur; Yuffie was sitting down near a wall, her head buried in her knees. Barret and Tifa were talking about how it would be nice to go back to Seventh Heaven; Cloud was staring at Tifa, looking as if he were guilty of something. Probably because he hurt her feelings, thought Loren. Cid was smoking a cigarette by the couch, which Loren promptly smacked out of his mouth. Cid gave her a murderous look. Loren crossed her arms.
"There will be no smoking inside my apartment! I do not want to run the risk of having my home burnt down."
"Gah! Damn it, girl! My cigs are my only release from all the fighting and stress!"
"Well if you want to smoke, do it outside. You can do whatever you want outside, but as long as you are in my home, you will not smoke indoors."
"Fine! I'll go smoke outside, if you want to be so stubborn. God, you fuckin' people are so…so…gah! Forget you all! I don't give a damn what you all think!"
Cid stormed outside and left Loren wondering how someone could get so worked up over a cigarette. Loren found Cait Sith playing with his dice. Somehow, most of the time he got double sixes. She left him alone and walked over to Vincent. He looked up and stared at her with his crimson orbs. His eyes seemed hollow at the time, as if he were nothing but a shell inside.
"Vincent, get back into the main crowd. You seem very lonely in your little corner."
"I would rather not. I have always been on the outside of the group and put in my opinion and knowledge only when I find it necessary."
"I understand that, Vincent. But you have to truly be a part of the group or you will never regain your humanity."
"There is no point in trying to gain my humanity back. My sins have already destroyed my human side."
Loren frowned. She placed her hand on his chest and felt his beating heart. She felt the warmth of his skin under the clothing. Vincent's heart beat quickened.
"You seem very alive to me. Your heart beats with much strength. I can feel the warmth of your body. If your humanity side was dead, I would not feel warmth. If your humanity side was dead, I would not feel your heart. If you were to join the group and be social, you would not feel the burden of your sins weighing down your heart. You would regain the rest of your humanity. Despite the demons in you, I know your humanity is hidden deep inside of you. You just do not want to bring it out because you fear rejection."
"Perhaps you are right. Perhaps you aren't. Either way, I do not want to find out."
Loren grabbed his arm and led him to her room. When she closed the door, she went over to him and gripped his chin and forced him to look her in the eye. He seemed more than a little surprised. She pointed to her forehead.
"Do you see this?"
Vincent looked at her forehead and found a hardly visible but large mark in the right corner. He gave her a puzzled look, and then averted his eyes. She gave no complaint or forced him to look at her again.
"I was walking down a dark alley because it was the quickest way home. I was ambushed. I had been isolated at the time, having no friends or any general communication with the world. I was forcefully taken and beaten. I woke up two days later, naked and nearly broken. I had a large gash on my forehead and I was still bleeding."
Loren's voice was beginning to crack.
"I do not know how I was even alive, but I pushed myself to rise and make my way to a hospital. I drifted in and out of consciousness for just about three weeks. I do not want anything similar to that day to happen to anyone that I know."
When Vincent stared into her steel-gray eyes, they were rimmed with tears.
"It is a pain far beyond comprehension. I especially do not want that to happen to you or any other of you all. Even though I believed you to only be pixels, I still felt a pleasant, albeit strange, bond with you all. I grew to care for you all. I nearly cried when Aeris…left to the Lifestream."
Her body was softly shaking. Taken aback, Vincent awkwardly grasped her shoulders and held her close to him. She gave no resistance. In fact, she leaned into him a little bit.
"I do not want that to happen to any of you. No one. Deserves. My fate. No one. WHY COULDN'T THEY JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?"
Vincent was shocked at her last statement. He had never heard her scream, much less use a contraction. She had said 'couldn't'. How strange. It's interesting at what wild emotions can do to you…how they can change you, if only for a little while, Vincent mused. Loren finally grabbed onto him and held onto him as if he were her lifeline. He held onto her a little tighter as well. He made sure that his claw hand didn't snag her clothing. He had a strange, fluttery feeling in his chest that he couldn't explain. He remembered having this feeling once before, but he couldn't recall anything right now. He simply enjoyed the feeling inside of him and the feeling of her holding on to him. For the first time in nearly 3 decades, he smiled.
A/N: Hey guys, sorry I took so long! I've been practicing a lot with my violin for Regionals, cause once school starts, it's all over. So again, sorry, but I finally got it finished. I'm quite determined to finish this one. I've been urged and encouraged (especially by you guys!) so I'm gonna do it. I hope you review again, or I will cook up another way to kill Sephiroth. Hey that's a pretty good idea! If you don't review, I'll cook Seph and eat him for dinner!
Seph: You'll actually eat me?
ES: Why of course! I'll be poking and prodding at you with a thermometer and those pitchfork thingies until you're completely cooked.
Seph: Come on, can't you at least let up on the threats for a while?
ES: NO! Ask that again, and I will kill you reviews or not!
Seph: (grumble) Fine.
ES: Please review!Yayness!